Improvement in railway-car couplings



JOSEPH TRACY. d

Improvement in Railway Car Coupling.. No.119,897.

Patened Oct. 10,1871.

UNITED STATES vPATENT OEEIcE.

JOSEPH B. TRACY, OF LINCOLN, DLAIVARE.

IMPROVEMENI IN RAILWAY-CAR COUPLINGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 119,897, dated October 10, 1871.

To all uvhom it may concern:

Be it known that' I, JOSEPH B. TRACY, of Lincoln, in the county of Sussex and State of Delaware, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Gar-Couplings 5 vand I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing making a part of this specification, in Which- Figure l is a side elevation, partly in section, of two car-bumpers with my invention in position for coupling. Fig. 2 is a front view of the stirrup with the pin in position. Fig. 3 is a front View of the supporting-link and rack-bar.

The same letters of reference are employed in all the figures in the designation of identical parts.

This invention consists in an improvement upon the ordinary car-coupling and bumper, so that it can be readily and easily attached to the old style of car-couplings with very little expense, all of which will be more fully described in the annexed specification.

In the drawing, A A represents the bumpers commonly employed in cars. Into the lower side of and near the front thereof, on A, is tapped or otherwise firmly secured an angular piece, B, having two small pieces, b b', at its front end, and also a downwardlyprojecting rack-bar, O, provided with suitable notches c. A link-pawl, D, is placed with its lower cross-piece into one of the notches o. Its upper end is guided by the small pins b b', and it is also provided with a T- shaped head, upon which the coupling-link E is supported, and this may be adjusted to suit the different heights of cars by raising or lowering the link-pawl and placing it into the different notches of the rack-bar. To the upper side of bumper A is bolted or secured a support, F, for the stirrup G, having a large hole, e, Fig. 2, in its lower part, to allow the pin to drop through easily. Its arms are each provided with a small hole for the stirrup-rods g g to pass through. To the lower cross-piece of the stirrup is welded a piece, f, having a lip, ff, at the front end, and an upwardly-curved projectiolnj'". rlhe upper piece of the stirrup is provided with an eye, h, from which the coupling-pin His suspended by two small chain-links, h. A slot, 7c, is cut into the casting Al back of the pin-hole about two inches to allow the stirrup, when tripped, to fall through easily. Said stirrup is held in its position by the lip j", which fits loosely into a notch. cut into casting A.

The operation is as follows: The link-pawl D is placed in position, as shown in Fig. l, supporting the coupling-link E, and the stirrup G is placed, with the lip ff, into the notch cut into the bumper A. The coupling-pin is, of course, thereby held in an elevated position, as shown. The cars coming together, the bumper A strikes against the link-pawl D, which is thereby thrown out of the notch in the rack-bar and drops vertically down. The bumper A coming up with the coupling-link E, this strikes against the curved projection f of the stirrup, by which it becomes detached from its support, drops with the coupling-pin through the lilik, and the cars are coupled.

The great advantages of my invention are that it is very simple and can be very readily attached to any carat a small cost. It is automatic and positive in its operation. i

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

The combination, with the bumper A, of the scribing witnesses.

`JOSEPH B. TRACY.

Witnesses:

Guns. G. FISHER, GEO. P. FISHER. (122) 

